S.H. Figuarts Ranma 1/2 Ranma Saotome 2-in-1 review

So you've probably seen my site at this point, tons of Transformers, Power Rangers, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, and some franchise rep for TMNT, Mario, and Halo as one would expect. I'm sure many wouldn't expect the Sailor Moon series to get represented in review form, mostly with the Figuarts and their Mini equivalents. Urusei Yatsura and Evangelion also got attention, though it was easier to get those reviews out of the way. Although I knew about the Dragonball series way before those franchises, I wasn't sure what versions of the characters to start with first, and that's ignoring the powered-up forms a lot of the characters would face. And then comes a classic martial arts comedy known as Ranma 1/2. It focuses on a young dude who falls into a cursed pond, granting him the ability to turn into a girl if the water is cold and back into a boy if the water is hot. So because of that, we're taking a look at both genders associated with the character in a single review!

Here are both versions of Ranma Saotome in hand. I love that they each retain not just the gender proportions like with the anime, but we also have slightly different details to make them unique beyond their genders. For example, regular Ranma's shirt looks more like it is somewhat tucked away from the sides while female Ranma's now looks like a skirt. Meanwhile, the sleeves are different with male Ranma having them rolled up at the elbows while female Ranma's are much shorter, barely reaching the biceps. She also has what appears to be wrist guards, perfect for training with weapons and other forms of martial arts. Even the legs have been altered to fit with each other's proportions, though the height difference befitting Ranma's build going from having a slight bit of muscle into a slightly shorter yet perky female with an hourglass shape means that female Ranma's parts end up being tinier for Figuarts standards. 

Their head sculpts are pretty accurate to the anime and even the manga, though with how different the animation directors tend to be (combined with the manga aesthetics not quite matching the anime appearances), with the eyes and the mouths being slightly different than they normally would look. I say this since fans are more likely going to be aware of the anime than the manga. Annoyingly, the shadows cast by their bangs make their eyes harder to pick out. As for their accessories, they have a general even spread, though there is a bit of a compatible part that both figures can use as we get to.

They each have the same articulation, just about. They have two points of rotation at the head and neck as well as a hinge moving up and down, two shoulder joints (one on a rotator cuff a la the McFarlane DC Multiverse line and another attached at the arm), past-90 degree bends at the elbows, and similar joints at the wrists like with the neck. The diaphragm and the torso are each on a ball joint, as are the hips. The knees bend past 90 degrees, ankles rotate, hinge, and pivot in addition to toe-ticulation. He comes with a display stand that lets him achieve better display options without balancing too much on his tiny feet. He can be posed holding his bucket (with a detachable handle and a clear blue disk to simulate water), and a backpack that can go through one of the arms by unpegging the bottom side of the right strap. His alternate hands include pairs of accessory-holding hands, relaxed open hands, and two flat martial arts hands as showcased in these photos. He also has an open-mouth faceplate staring to the right and a yelling face.

And fitting a martial arts comedy is an alternate nervous faceplate and a pair of oyakusoku pozu hands that are totally not web-shooting hands. I'm sorry, but you know that the comparison was going to be made as someone who grew up as a Marvel fan WAAAAAY before hearing about the Rumicverse. I know Sailor Moon did something similar too, and I pointed that out when I reviewed my 500th review back in 2023 comparing the Legends and Figuarts versions of No Way Home's Tobey Maguire Spider-Man figures.

The female version has about the same articulation, but her shoulders function differently and have more prominent rounded areas than those of her male counterpart. Meanwhile, the biceps rotate, while the toes lack hinges. Her accessories include a gold-painted teapot, a bo staff that she can pose with, and a sword previously shown in the aforementioned NWH Tobey Spidey review. Her faceplates in these photos include an open-mouth smile looking to the left and an angry face ready for combat. The hands are also the same as with her male counterpart, though better scaled for her body. 

The female version of Ranma comes with an even further petrified facial expression as well as a katakana sign that's supposed to read "chudo-n", which means "kaboom". Of note is that it is the clip meant to hold it is very tight, and the plastic film has begun to slowly peel away, so be careful with that.

The best part of the alternate expressions and Ranma's tendency to be posed like this is the display options with other characters outside of the Ranmaverse. For example, what if he tried looking into the Jedi Temple but was ordered to leave by a Clone Trooper (ik that it's supposed to be the 501st version but stfu)? Or how about he loses in a fight with Spider-Man over who gets to keep the hand pose?

The same goes for female Ranma. He may be afraid of cats rather than rats, but would he be afraid of a giant rat in which under its skin lurks a robot within? And hey, maybe she annoyed Luigi for too long with how she would see him as the lesser brother. Also, I got Figuarts Luigi out of his box because I rarely show the Super Mario Bros in Figuart form compared to World of Nintendo. 

Here is a size comparison between the female Ranma, along with Luigi once more, and the invisible Phantom Ranger. I always felt that the Figuarts line varied in terms of scale. While I thought the Mario Bros. would feel small in terms of height, the Female Ranma somehow felt smaller because of how tiny her parts are. In fact, the left wrist joint has a tendency to split in half by the peg. Overall, both versions of the character are still worth getting. I love that they manage to be consistent with each other considering that they're the same character but in different genders. In addition, the fact that they each have different accessories to keep them distinct yet valuable also works, from male Ranma's water bucket and backpack to female Ranma's melee weapons and her katakana. You can't have one without the other, but just keep in mind that these figures are pricy as hell.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐